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Wednesday March 7

For Wednesday’s iLounge Deal, you can pick up the 1MORE Quad Driver In-Ear Headphones for only $149.99 — that’s 25% off the regular price. These elite headphones are the first to be THX® Certified and have been expertly tuned by Grammy-winning sound engineer Luca Bignardi for a fully balanced and ultra-realistic soundstage. Even with all the incredible sound and noise-isolating features, however, they’re still extremely portable…

A few months ago, a complaint started popping up from users downloading or updating our apps: “Geez, your downloads are really slow!”

If you work in support, you probably have a reflexive reaction to a complaint like this. It’s vague. There’s a million possible factors. It’ll probably resolve itself by tomorrow. You hope. Boy do you hope.

Except… we also started noticing it ourselves when we were working from home. When we’d come in to the office, transfers were lightning fast. But at home, it was really, seriously getting hard to get any work done remotely at all.

So, maybe there was something screwy here?

This is a fascinating story, well told. In a nutshell, Panic got reports of slow downloads from a non-trivial subset of their customers, wrote a script to try to find a common link, and actually found that link. And it was Comcast.

The Irish government has reportedly selected Bank of New York Mellon to control an escrow fund holding up to $18.6 billion in back taxes collected from Apple, pending attempts to reverse a ruling by the European Commission.

BlackBerry Ltd on Tuesday filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Facebook Inc and its WhatsApp and Instagram apps, arguing that they copied technology and features from BlackBerry Messenger.

And:

“Defendants created mobile messaging applications that co-opt BlackBerry’s innovations, using a number of the innovative security, user interface, and functionality enhancing features,” Canada-based BlackBerry said in a filing with a Los Angeles federal court.

One of the patents in question covers the concept of a badge, that is, a changing number tied to an icon that reflect, for example, the current number of unread email messages.

Check out this thread from The Verge’s Nilay Patel:

Ummmm BlackBerry is suing Facebook for infringing a patent that claims to cover…. displaying a count of unread messages on a notification dot. pic.twitter.com/sGqetm6qbH

A Korean report claims that Apple will drop the notch from its 2019 OLED iPhones. The company is said to be working on a new design where the screen will ‘completely fill the front of new iPhones.’

No details are provided about how Apple would deal with all of the technology currently housed in the notch. This includes the front-facing camera, separate infra-red camera for Face ID, dot projector, flood illuminator, speaker, microphone, ambient light sensor and proximity sensor …

On Feb. 16, I published an updated review for Default Folder X (https://tinyurl.com/ybm5au72), one of my favorite macOS utilities ever and one I’ve used for years. Recently, I interviewed St. Clair Software’s Jon Gotow, the man behind the app.

What was the impetus for creating Default Folder?

Jon: Way back in 1988, I was working on my Masters thesis and was really frustrated that the Open and Save dialogs in Microsoft Word would always open to the folder containing the Word application. I had to navigate to a different folder every damned time I saved a new draft, opened a new CricketGraph chart, imported a new MacDraw diagram, etc. It drove me crazy - especially because my state-of-the-art Mac Plus was far from speedy.

I'd written some Mac applications for my engineering class projects and knew there were low memory globals in System 5 that determined what folder the file dialogs would initially show...

An anonymous reader quotes a report from VentureBeat: Google today launched Chrome 65 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. Additions in this release include Material Design changes and new developer features. You can update to the latest version now using the browser's built-in silent updater or download it directly from google.com/chrome. Chrome 65 comes with a few visual changes. The most obvious is related to Google's Material Design mantra. The extensions page has been completely revamped to follow it. Next up, Chrome 65 replaces the Email Page Location link in Chrome for Mac's File menu with a Share submenu. As you might expect, Mac users can use this submenu to share the URL of a current tab via installed macOS Share Extensions. Speaking of Macs, Chrome 65 is also the last release for OS X 10.9 users. Chrome 66 will require OS X 10.10 or later. Moving on to developer features, Chrome 65 includes the CSS Paint API, which allows developers to programmatically generate an image...

A bank has now been appointed to manage the escrow fund for the €15B ($18.6B) in back-taxes the European Union decided Apple had to pay to the Irish government.

It took some time to agree the arrangements as Apple expects to get the money back at the end of a legal battle expected to take many years, and it will want to ensure the funds have been well invested during that time …

Sonnet Technologies’ 1TB version of its Fusion Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Flash Drive makes a great product even better. It’s a new model of the pocket-sized solid-state drive (SSD) storage device that packs a Thunderbolt 3 interface.

Now the drive is equipped with 1TB of NVMe flash storage and leverages the 40Gbps bandwidth of Thunderbolt 3 to deliver data transfer speeds up to 2600 MB/second. The Fusion Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Flash Drive was designed for pro users and doesn’t require an AC power adapter.

However, it’s also great for non-pro users who need a high capacity drive to expand the limited storage of most Mac laptops. And it’s a great solution for transferring or sharing info between multiple Macs.

Measuring a compact 2.8 inches wide by 4.1 inches deep by 1.25 inches tall, the Fusion Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Flash Drive connects to any compatible Mac or Windows computer, or at the end of a Thunderbolt 3 device daisy chain thanks to its 0.5-meter Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps...

Not content with threatening import tariffs on aluminum and steel that could badly damage US automative and aircraft industries but have little impact on Apple, Trump is now considering far broader forms of protectionism.

His latest proposals could hit consumer electronics imported from China, with ‘the most severe scenario’ seeing Apple products caught in the net …

Apple has been granted a patent (number 9,911,123) for its Apple Pay interface. Apple Pay is the mobile payment and digital wallet service that lets users make payments using an iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad or Mac.

The tech giant’s patent notes that a mobile device receives and stores information for one or more payment accounts. It’s used to make payments using the payment accounts. In some examples, authorization to proceed with a payment is performed before each purchase made by the user.

The authorization process can include receiving a verification of the user, such as a fingerprint scan or passcode. In some examples, a payment account is selected from among available payment accounts. In some examples, an indication is displayed of a digital item associated with a purchased item. In some examples, a payment transaction is initiated with participants of an ongoing communication. In some examples, an application of a retailer is invoked based on the availability of...

On a regular basis, Apple World Today posts a list of notable new apps or app updates that have been released. They may not necessarily be new, but they're popular and deserve mention. Here are today's picks.

iOS Apps/Updates

Health Endeavors has launched One Touch Health Smart Record. The app puts consumers in control of their health care record and applies data-driven intelligence to the health data. Consumers may request or send their electronic health record using direct messaging. “This is the beginning of the end of interoperability issues in health care,” said Kris Gates, CEO, Health Endeavors.

Apple has recently added more than 20 new regional banks and credit unions across the United States, as follows:

Advancial Federal Credit Union

Anahuac National Bank

ASI Federal Credit Union

Auburn State Bank

BankSouth

Burbank City Federal Credit Union

CentralAlliance Credit Union

Columbine Federal Credit Union

Connections Bank

DCH Credit Union

Hastings Federal Credit Union

Iowa-Nebraska State Bank

Lea County State Bank

LegacyTexas

McCook National Bank

Minnesota Valley Federal Credit Union

Peoples Bank (Oklahoma added)

St. Francis X. Federal Credit Union

TS Bank

West Suburban Bank

Winchester Savings Bank

Apple Pay is also said to be arriving in Brazil, which will make it the first country added in 2018. The timing of the launch has yet to be released, but it’s possible it could be timed with iOS 11.3 which is expected around...

The format offered a rich experience with digital music and could include lyrics, photos, and liner notes as well as access to video.

The format had never been optimized for iPhone or iTunes, and while the special iTunes format has been around for almost ten years but only around 400 albums have used it.

Per Metro, Apple will discontinue iTunes LP submissions on April 1st.

‘Apple will no longer accept new submissions of iTunes LPS after March 2018,’ it wrote. ‘Existing LPs will be deprecated from the store during the remainder of 2018. Customers who have previously purchased an album containing an iTunes LP will still be able to download the additional content using iTunes Match.’

Apple still provides technical guidance for the iTunes LP format through its TuneKit API.

Apple looks to be shifting its focus to its Apple Music subscription service, which offers similar elements...

Tuesday March 6

The White House is reportedly mulling tighter restrictions over Chinese investments and imports into the U.S., conditions that could have a negative impact on the multitude of domestic tech companies manufacturing goods in China.

Uber announced today that its self-driving trucks have been operating in Arizona for the last couple of months. The company said it has two main transfer hubs in Sanders and Topock, but other than that, Uber is being pretty tight-lipped about the ope...

Billy McFarland has admitted that he forged documents and lied to investors to convince them to pour a total of $26 million into his company and the now infamous Fyre Festival. He was arrested last year after what he touted as "the cultural experienc...

A pair of recent reports have indicated that Apple is currently developing its own over-ear headphones, slated for release as early as the end of this year.

As is the case anytime a new Apple product is rumored, everyone quickly speculates as to what it could be called. Thus, it’s time for the same conversation about Apple’s headphones. What do you think they’ll be called?

The White House is gearing up to request that law enforcement and security agencies be allowed to track and shoot down civilian drones, Bloomberg reported. An official told the publication that the effort has been underway for months and it involves...

It's taken a while, but finally Google Home speakers in the UK can be used to make hands-free voice calls. The feature was announced at Google I/O 2017 and introduced in the US last August. Brits have waited patiently since then (or switched to Alexa...

Honda said it wanted to sell its Urban EV Concept sometime in 2019, and now it's official. The automaker has announced that it will start taking orders for a production version of the tiny retro electric car in early 2019, with a European launch in...

A recent op-ed reminds U.S. citizens that Internal Revenue Service impersonators are out in force this tax season and, like last year and year before, some are looking to fleece unwitting victims by asking them to pay back taxes with iTunes gift cards.

Despite artist Matt Furie's attempts to reclaim his Pepe The Frog character from neo-Nazis, his cartoon is still being used by the far-right. He created Pepe in the early 2000s and has described the character as a "peaceful frog-dude" whose true natu...

Midweek deals are going on now with savings of up to $1,000 off. Pick up a high-end Late 2016 15" MacBook Pro (2.9GHz, 16GB, 512GB, Radeon 460) for $2,099. DJI's Mavic Pro drone is also $230 off, while $100 iTunes / App Store codes are just $85 while supplies last.

Apple on Tuesday issued the latest iteration of its Apple Music app for Android, delivering a handful of enhancements, namely music video playback options, that bring the title more in line with its iOS counterpart.

We’re still a few months a way from the official debut of iOS 12, but that hasn’t stopped designers from using their imaginations to depict how the update could change iOS. Today, a new concept imagines an all-new Music app in iOS 12, including the return of Cover Flow…

Google Lens is making it way from the Pixel to Android devices and iPhones alike starting today. In a roundabout way, that is. The AI-powered photo analyzing app will live inside Assistant in Google Photos, as spotted by 9to5 Gooogle. The announcemen...

Every year, the vocabulary druids at Merriam-Webster decide which words bubbling to the top of the cultural consensus should be immortalized forever in its dictionary. In early 2017, the list of over 1,000 additions included CRISPR and botnet, a clea...

As tax day quickly approaches in the United States, scammers are ramping up their efforts to swindle Americans out of their money. CNBC this week highlights a growing scheme that sees scammers asking people to pay their taxes with iTunes gift cards…

The AWT News Update is on hiatus while my compadre, Steve, takes a road trip. In its place, I’ll offer a text-only (no podcast) summary of breaking stories with a tip o’ my hat to my former website, Apple Daily Report.

A British Columbia couple are demanding Apple pay $600,000 in uninsured losses after they were forced to close their farm business following a devastating house fire that they claim was sparked by a faulty iPhone. Cathy and Ian Finley believe a three-month-old iPhone 6 left plugged into a charge cord somehow heated up and started a fire in their living room in October 2016.

Apple has posted a new "Welcome Home" HomePod video to its YouTube channel. This one is directed by filmmaker Spike Jonze.

The US military's Project Maven is getting some help using AI to interpret drone footage from a not-entirely-unexpected source: Google. The company has confirmed a Gizmodo report that it's offering TensorFlow programming kits to the Defense Departm...

Apple is partnering with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in the U.S. and Volkswagen in Europe to offer new car buyers six months of Apple Music with select models supporting the CarPlay platform, doubling the streaming service's normal trial period.

Asmodee reveals the current state of its upcoming digital board game "Scythe" arriving soon on Mac and iOS, as Feral Interactive delays the release of the iPhone-compatible version of "Rome: Total War" until the summer.

As more companies and services are leveraging user data to greater extents, it’s becoming more and more important to be aware of your privacy preferences and how you can make sure your iPhone settings are in alignment. Whether it’s been a little while since you’ve checked out your privacy settings or you’ve never looked under the hood, follow along to make sure everything is set to your liking.

If you've donned a VR headset and immersed yourself in a proper virtual reality 'experience,' you might have seen chills, thrills, and...not too many people at once. Today, Intel released a demo showcasing a software solution to the crowd problem the...

Native Union is best known for making tech accessories that feature stand out designs with a dash of fashion. Its latest product continues that trend by mixing attractive materials and fun patterns with a low profile wireless charging pad for iPhone and Qi-compatible devices. Native Union’s Drop Wireless Charger also happens to compliment the space gray HomePod perfectly…

BlackBerry on Tuesday launched a lawsuit against Facebook, arguing that services like WhatsApp and Instagram deliberately copy features from BlackBerry Messenger, one of the draws of BlackBerry's once-dominant smartphones.

If you love stylish, '90s-style 2D side-scrolling brawlers like Golden Axe or Aztez, you'll dig the debut release from Household Games, a new studio made up of DrinkBox Studios, Queasy Games and Silicon Knights members. Way of the Passive Fist is ava...

Apple has teamed up with Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler to offer a new perk for customers buying certain CarPlay-equipped cars. From May, eligible vehicles will come with a 6 month Apple Music trial, which typically runs $9.99 per month.

Apple has partnered with Volkswagen in Europe and Fiat in the US to giveaway these extended trials. New Apple Music subscribers will be able to take advantage of the full six month free offer, existing subscribers can get 3 months free. More details after the jump …

When it comes to doing something different with speakers, we can always count on iHome to lead the way with interesting new ideas, and needless to say we were intrigued enough by one of the company's latest offering, the Reflect Vanity Speaker, to give it a slightly closer look. It's a Bluetooth speaker coupled with an illuminated vanity mirror allowing you to listen to your favorite music or even take speakerphone calls while getting ready for a night out on the town. {/exp:char_limit}

Cancer screening isn't all that accessible -- you typically need an obvious genetic background that suggests you're at risk, which doesn't help if you slip between those cracks. You shouldn't have to run that gauntlet for much longer. The US Food and...

Back in 2009, iTunes 9 offered a way for artists and labels to pack in extra album material like art, videos and bonus tracks. Earlier on Tuesday morning, Metro found a leaked Apple document that spelled doom for the bundled extras. The Verge later c...

Enterprise and educational device management firm Jamf is helping a group of 150 Haitian students to engage with the digital world, by shipping an 'innovation pod' providing iPads and other technology, as well as a digital curriculum, to a school in one of Haiti's impoverished areas.

LG has announced pricing for its 2018 TV lineup. It includes nine new AI-enabled OLED TV models and seven AI-enabled Super UHD TV models, each coming with LG's ThinQ AI technology. The OLED line includes LG's Signature W8 series, which will be availa...

An anonymous reader shares a report: Apple could kill off iTunes in the near future, a new report suggests. It cites an email that Apple reportedly wrote to people in the music industry recently, announcing the "end of iTunes LPs." The iTunes LP format was first introduced in 2009 and let publishers add interactive artwork, along with assorted iTunes Extras, with their content. The LP format never achieved great popularity. However, the fact that Apple plans to ditch iTunes LPs in 2018 potentially hints at the possibility that Apple may stop selling iTunes music downloads in the near future. The Apple email announcing the change was reportedly sent two weeks ago from an address at "The iTunes Store" and signed by "The Apple Music Team." But its existence has only been highlighted now through a report by the U.K. newspaper The Metro. "Apple will no longer accept new submissions of iTunes LPs after March 2018," the letter notes. "Existing LPs will be deprecated from the store during...

In addition to its Cyclone V10 cordless vacuum, today Dyson also unveiled its updated air-purifying fans. The new Pure Cool tower fan (TP04) and desktop fan (DP04) models may look familiar from afar, but in fact, they are slightly taller and wider th...

For many Mac users, the aesthetic of a MacBook Pro is just as important as what’s under the hood, and we’ve always admired Twelve South’s approach to creating accessories that blend right in, such as its venerable BookArc — a vertical MacBook stand with a design that matches the MacBook’s brushed aluminum look perfectly. Now comes BookArc möd, a new version of the stand that concedes that not everybody is into the metallic look, and sports a design more in tune with wood-focused desktops.

The U.S. government considers there to be possible national security risks in Broadcom's proposed $117 billion acquistion of Qualcomm, enough to warrant a full-scale investigation, the U.S. Treasury's deputy assistant secretary for investment security said in a letter to the two Apple suppliers.

The FCC is ready to do more to help Hurricane Maria victims beyond a task force and short-term cash infusions. Chairman Ajit Pai has proposed spending a total of $954 million to both fix and expand telecom networks in both Puerto Rico and the US Virg...

This month we’re teaming up with Caseco to give away Apple’s newest device, the HomePod, to one lucky 9to5Mac reader. Thanks to our sponsor Caseco, we’ll be throwing two $500 gift cards, one for the HomePod giveaway winner and another as a secondary prize. Head below for details on how to enter.

9to5 readers can also get 30% off Caseco accessories including its iPhone cases, chargers, Lightning cables, car mounts and more, all month long with promo code “9to5Mac30off“:

Twelve South has announced an update to its BookArc mod MacBook stand with a wood focused design. It works with most Mac laptops, including the MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt 3.

The folks at Twelve South say the revved BookArc is inspired by mid-century modern furniture design with a birch finish designed to complement to most decors and MacBook colors. The stand holds your MacBook vertically, minimizing desk clutter. BookArc möd comes with soft, interchangeable silicone inserts to fit current MacBooks (Thuderbolt 3 / USB-C), MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Retina.

Twelve South is launching it with a $10 discount for $49.99. This will be a temporary deal that will last for the next two weeks when the price will jump back up to $59.99.

One security feature a user could potentially find annoying is being locked out of an iPhone after a friend or family member entered multiple failed passcode attempts. In a case in China, a mother is furious after her toddler managed to lock her iPhone for 47 years.

AirPods remain a hot commodity even a year later, but they’re definitely not worth unemployment. Unfortunately, it sounds like a New Orleans police officer may have miscalculated that equation during a recent Apple Store visit…

Apple products can provide amazing learning opportunities for students, but those living in poverty often don’t get the chance to use such devices. Now education software firm Jamf is looking to make a difference in the education of underprivileged children with a new iPad focused initiative.

Google announced today that Gboard for Android is getting a handful of new languages including Korean and both traditional and simplified Chinese. The company said that those have been the most requested languages for Android -- they're already on Gb...

Have you ever purchased an expensive app on your iPhone and wondered if you could share it with your family or a select group of friends? AppleInsider shows you how to see if you can, and how to do it.

Did you think Airbus' Pop.Up flying taxi concept was a little drab? So did Audi. It teamed up with Airbus and Italdesign to unveil Pop.Up Next, a reworked version of the two-seat autonomous vehicle concept. The new version is more stylish than the...

BlackBerry has filed a lawsuit against Facebook for infringing the patent on its messaging technology in a Los Angeles Federal Court, according to a Reuters report. The lawsuit calls out Facebook, WhatsApp as well as Instagram for their use of instan...

Amazon hasn't had much of an answer to Netflix's numerous animated shows, but that should change in the near future -- and it's even 'borrowing' from Netflix in the process. The internet giant has ordered its first half-hour animated series, Undone,...

Halide launched as a gorgeous, gesture-based iPhone app almost one year ago, and the camera app continues to receive major updates and new features. Today’s Halide 1.7 release includes an advanced portrait mode feature, an AR depth viewer, and much more.

More than 100 children living in poverty will soon have the opportunity to engage with technology – many for the first time in their lives. Jamf has unveiled an innovation pod that will give 150 kindergarten students at Hope School access to a variety of technologies, including iPads and digital curriculum.

Located in Cité Soleil,﻿ Haiti, an impoverished, overpopulated area near the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, Hope School is an extension of Healing Haiti – an organization that strives to improve the lives of the Haitian people.

“This project is part of a grand vision,” says Jamf CEO Dean Hager. “We want to get technology into the hands of kids as an avenue to a brighter future. It is our mission to not only introduce these kids to iPads, but more importantly, to get them excited about the possibilities that technology could bring into their lives.”

Remember iTunes LPs? Don’t worry, a lot of us had forgotten about them. Launched in 2009, the iTunes LP was a format that encouraged iTunes patrons to buy entire albums by adding in video documentary extras, bonus tracks, liner notes, and sometimes even fancy interactive elements. It was the iTunes download equivalent of the Enhanced CD, and meant to help sell complete albums in an age where users could simply buy the two songs they like off of it for $0.99 each.

It looks like this somewhat forgotten feature is fading away. According to a report from UK site Metro, Apple sent a letter to music producers which states that, “Apple will no longer accept new submissions of iTunes LPs after March 2018.” What’s more, the letter says that sales of currently-available iTunes LPs will be phased out over the course of the year. “Existing LPs will be...

Wacom has refreshed its Intuos pen tablet range with new upgraded models, with the new small and medium-sized tablets boasting a smaller footprint and lighter weight than previous models, while also touting optional Bluetooth integration making some variants work wirelessly when used with a Mac.

If you were a fan of the original God of War, then chances are you're pretty hyped about the reboot. If you're planning on playing the Sony-exclusive game but haven't picked up a PS4 yet, then you may want to check out the Limited Edition God of War...

Apple has sent out an email to people working in the music business announcing the end of iTunes LPs, reports Metro. The article says it’s beginning of the tech giant’s plans to stop selling downloads altogether, but the Sellers Research Group (that’s me) says that’s not the case.

iTunes is a format for interactive album artwork that Apple introduced in 2009. It allows users to view multimedia elements alongside music. The company’s reasoning was that the format would make album downloads more appealing. However, the format apparently never caught on.

According to Metro, Apple will no longer accept new submissions of iTunes LPs after March 2018. Also, existing LPs will be deprecated from the store during the remainder of 2018. Customers who have previously purchased an album containing an iTunes LP will still be able...

Iam8bit, purveyors of gaming soundtracks on vinyl and other cool tchotchkes, is teaming up with RealDoll and developer Playdead for its next project. Details for the Inside special edition are scarce, but it'll include a PlayStation 4 disc with the g...

Apple has rolled back the much-hyped change to its iBooks app in the fourth iOS 11.3 beta, seeming to indicate the update isn’t quite ready for a broader release. The app was renamed from iBooks to Books in the first iOS 11.3 developer beta and remained that way through the third beta release, but as of yesterday’s fourth betas of iOS and macOS it has reverted back to iBooks. Reports from January claimed the updated app will eventually…

Last week, we told you about collector and former Microsoft Program Manger Jimmy Grewal’s mission to restore his recently acquired Apple I board to working condition. After rigorous testing and cleaning, Grewal and his team have fully revived the system and documented the restoration process in a new video.

Aside from using Apple Pay in stores, apps, and for online purchases, another method of using the service is with Transit cards. Currently, Apple Pay Transit works in selected cities in Japan, the UK, US, Russia and China, the latter of which might be seeing some welcome additions very soon.

For occasions where there's a need to copy text from an iPad browser window to a word processor on a nearby Mac and other similar situations, Apple implemented the Universal Clipboard to make the process as easy as copying and pasting. This AppleInsider guide tells you how to turn on this highly useful Continuity function.

Mercedes has been testing smarter headlights, and now it appears they're no longer just a concept. Daimler announced today that these futuristic headlamps will be available in top of the line Mercedes-Maybach S-Class vehicles.

In a letter to music industry representatives, Apple has quietly announced that it will be discontinuing its iTunes LPs, Metro reports. While LP means “long-playing” and usually refers to a full album as far as physical media are concerned, in Apple’s world the LP signifies a special music bundle that includes extras like liner notes, photos and videos. Apple won’t be accepting new submissions for iTunes LPs starting next month…

Deezer has been rapidly expanding its footprint, from the devices it's available on to adding voice control. Now it's adding Alexa to the mix. Not only is Deezer voice control available on Amazon's Echo devices, but it's also accessible on devices th...

While it’s already been shown that replacing the battery on an older iPhone speeds it up — and Apple has already admitted that they slowed the older devices on purpose when the batteries weakened — a new video is showing just how pronounced the benefits are. The video, posted by Bennett Sorbo, showed a slowed-down iPhone 6s completing a series of tasks in 5 minutes and 45 seconds, then showed the same device taking only 4 minutes and 33…

While Apple Pay works with nearly all of the major banks across the United States, there are still regional banks and credit unions with customers waiting for Apple Pay to work with their institution. The latest expansion includes several of those banks across the US.

Last month, Amazon launched its Whole Foods delivery service, allowing Prime members in some Austin, Cincinnati, Dallas and Virginia Beach neighborhoods to order Whole Foods groceries through Prime Now and have them delivered within two hours. Today,...

Apple has been identified as a major supporter of the non-profit Magical Bridge Foundation, providing $250,000 in sponsorship for the 'Innovation Zone' of an accessible playground due to be constructed later this year in Fair Oak Park located in Sunnyvale, California.

Imagine turning your home into the bridge of the Star Trek Enterprise, where a disembodied voice deftly answers every question you can ask, and you don't carry an iPhone or iPad anymore. Unfortunately, you also can't unlock your doors, you can't go outside, the brands you like are replaced with generic alternatives, and popular games, creative apps and other content aren't available anymore. This is the fantasy future of Amazon Alexa--but fortunately not the vision of Apple's new HomePod.

Today is the last day to exclusively save $900 on two Late 2016 15" MacBook Pros with an abundance of upgrades, including faster processors, more storage and better graphics. Prices for the premium models start at just $1,899 with no tax collected outside NY and NJ.

Apple appears to be finally pulling the plug on its iTunes LP format this year. For music sold in the iTunes Store, iTunes LP has served as a useful but not popular digital solution for including a rich multimedia experience with digital music.

My experience with HomePod has so far been a very positive one, with its responsiveness to Siri requests something that’s really impressed me.

A key HomePod feature is its use of noise-cancelling microphones so that it can hear Hey Siri requests no matter how loudly the music is playing, but I’ve also been really amazed by the sheer distance at which Siri can hear me – often from one end of our apartment to the other.

While there are already battery cases on the market for the iPhone X, Mophie has filed an application with the Wireless Power Consortium to offer the first one that is Qi-certified, Mac Otakara reports. Today Mophie was granted the Qi certification for its Juice Pack Air for iPhone X, so an official announcement could be forthcoming any time. The filing claims the device will be able to extend call duration by up to 9 hours, but doesn’t include…

With the tech giant’s Apple’s support, Magical Bridge will create the Innovation Zone, a dynamic space within the Sunnyvale playground for people of all ages and abilities to meet, learn, explore, create and build new and diverse relationships. Every aspect of a Magical Bridge Playground is intentional and leading edge, and the Innovation Zone lies at the heart of this concept, says Magical Bridge co-founder Olenka Villarreal.

The Sunnyvale location is the third Magical Bridge Playground, with a goal to open to the public in 2020. The Sunnyvale playground will be nestled in the 15.2-acre Fair Oaks Park, serving the...

In a bid to make the streaming service more appealing to sensitive parents, Netflix has instituted a pair of new features allowing more restrictions over what their children watch -- the first being a more nuanced PIN-lock system.

A family in British Columbia has demanded Apple pay it $600,000 to help cover uninsured losses endured from a farmhouse fire in October 2016, one claimed to have been started by an overheating cable used to charge an iPhone 6.

StarTech.com has released the $317Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Expansion Chassis with DisplayPort, a turnkey solution for those looking to extend their laptop expansion options. The chassis enables users to add their choice of external PCI Express (PCIe) card to their MacBook or Windows laptop, and features a dedicated port for connecting a DisplayPort monitor. For additional scalability, the chassis also supports Thunderbolt 3 daisy chaining.

The expansion chassis is available for purchase individually, or bundled with one of a variety of StarTech.com PCIe cards. The bundles available include 10 Gigabit networking, USB 3.1, FireWire, and m.2 SSD connections.

The Thunderbolt 3 expansion chassis supports business and creative professionals’ use of many external add-on peripherals and storage media, according to Carey Cline, senior product manager, StarTech.com. Also, by adding this expansion chassis, users won’t...

Apple has released the fourth betas of iOS 11.3 and tvOS 11.3 to registered developers. While iOS 11.3 adds a few interesting new features, the fourth beta seems to mostly consist of bug fixes and relatively minor improvements, following the introduction of the battery health feature in iOS 11.3 beta 2. 9to5Mac found that the new code adds support for Brazilian Portuguese to the TV app, hinting that that app could be released in Brazil soon. There’s…

Software Updates via MacUpdate

Microsoft Office 2016 16.11 - Popular pr...

Microsoft Office 2016 - Unmistakably Office, designed for Mac.
The new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote provide the best of both worlds for Mac users - the familiar Office... Read more

Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 19.1.2 - Profess...

Photoshop CC 2018 is available as part of Adobe Creative Cloud for as little as $19.99/month (or $9.99/month if you're a previous Photoshop customer).
Adobe Photoshop CC 2018, the industry standard... Read more

Adobe Dreamweaver CC 2018 18.1.0.10155 -...

Dreamweaver CC 2018 is available as part of Adobe Creative Cloud for as little as $19.99/month (or $9.99/month if you're a previous Dreamweaver customer).
Adobe Dreamweaver CC 2018 allows you to... Read more

Adobe Flash Player 29.0.0.113 - Plug-in...

Adobe Flash Player is a cross-platform, browser-based application runtime that provides uncompromised viewing of expressive applications, content, and videos across browsers and operating systems.... Read more

Drive Genius 5.2.0 - $79.00

Drive Genius features a comprehensive Malware Scan. Automate your malware protection. Protect your investment from any threat. The Malware Scan is part of the automated DrivePulse utility. DrivePulse... Read more

MegaSeg 6.0.6 - Professional DJ and radi...

MegaSeg is a complete solution for pro audio/video DJ mixing, radio automation, and music scheduling with rock-solid performance and an easy-to-use design. Mix with visual waveforms and Magic... Read more

ffWorks 1.0.7 - Convert multimedia files...

ffWorks (was iFFmpeg), focused on simplicity, brings a fresh approach to the use of FFmpeg, allowing you to create ultra-high-quality movies without the need to write a single line of code on the... Read more

Dash 4.1.5 - Instant search and offline...

Dash is an API documentation browser and code snippet manager. Dash helps you store snippets of code, as well as instantly search and browse documentation for almost any API you might use (for a full... Read more

Evernote 7.0.3 - Create searchable notes...

Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at anytime, from... Read more

jAlbum Pro 15.3 - Organize your digital...

jAlbum Pro has all the features you love in jAlbum, but comes with a commercial license. You can create gorgeous custom photo galleries for the Web without writing a line of code!
Beginner-friendly... Read more

Latest Forum Discussions

Around the Empire: What have you missed...

Oh hi nice reader, and thanks for popping in to check out our weekly round-up of all the stuff that you might have missed across the Steel Media network. Yeah, that's right, it's a big ol' network. Obviously 148Apps is the best, but there are some... | Read more »

All the best games on sale for iPhone an...

It might not have been the greatest week for new releases on the App Store, but don't let that get you down, because there are some truly incredible games on sale for iPhone and iPad right now. Seriously, you could buy anything on this list and I... | Read more »

Everything You Need to Know About The Fo...

In just over a week, Epic Games has made a flurry of announcements. First, they revealed that Fortnite—their ultra-popular PUBG competitor—is coming to mobile. This was followed by brief sign-up period for interested beta testers before sending out... | Read more »

The best games that came out for iPhone...

It's not been the best week for games on the App Store. There are a few decent ones here and there, but nothing that's really going to make you throw down what you're doing and run to the nearest WiFi hotspot in order to download it. That's not to... | Read more »

Death Coming (Games)

Death Coming 1.1.1.536
Device: iOS Universal
Category: Games
Price: $1.99, Version: 1.1.1.536 (iTunes)
Description:
--- Background Story ---You Died. Pure and simple, but death was not the end. You have become an agent of Death: a... | Read more »

Hints, tips, and tricks for Empires and...

Empires and Puzzles is a slick match-stuff RPG that mixes in a bunch of city-building aspects to keep things fresh. And it's currently the Game of the Day over on the App Store. So, if you're picking it up for the first time today, we thought it'd... | Read more »

What You Need to Know About Sam Barlow’s...

Sam Barlow’s follow up to Her Story is #WarGames, an interactive video series that reimagines the 1983 film WarGames in a more present day context. It’s not exactly a game, but it’s definitely still interesting. Here are the top things you should... | Read more »

Pixel Plex Guide - How to Build Better T...

Pixel Plex is the latest city builder that has come to the App Store, and it takes a pretty different tact than the ones that came before it. Instead of being in charge of your own city by yourself, you have to work together with other players to... | Read more »

Fortnite Will Be Better Than PUBG on Mob...

Before last week, if you asked me which game I prefer between Fortnite Battle Royale and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), I’d choose the latter just about 100% of the time. Now that we know that both games are primed to hit our mobile screens... | Read more »

Apple is now offering Certified Refurbished 2017 10″ and 12″ iPad Pros for $100-$190 off MSRP, depending on the model. An Apple one-year warranty is included with each model, and shipping is free:
–... Read more

Silver 12″ 1.3GHz MacBook on sale at B&H...

B&H Photo has the 2017 12″ 1.3GHz Silver MacBook on sale for $1399.99 including free shipping plus sales tax for NY & NJ residents only. Their price is $200 off MSRP, and it’s the lowest... Read more

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